Myoung Shin aims to produce 220,000 EVs by 2024 at former GM plant

SEOUL -- Myoung Shin, a new South Korean carmaker that took over an idle plant shut down by U.S. carmaker General Motors as part of global restructuring, aims to produce some 220,000 electric vehicles by 2024, including sedans, trucks, buses and sport utility vehicles.

Myoung Shin CEO Lee Tae-gyu said Tuesday that the plant in the southeastern port city of Gunsan, 178 kilometers (110 miles) southeast of Seoul, would gradually expand facilities after producing some 50,000 SUVs under an original equipment manufacturing (OEM) contract from the first half of 2021.

"We aim to promote the quantitative and qualitative development of South Korea's electric vehicle industry through the production of completely our own models," Lee told reporters, vowing to inject 618 billion won ($532 million) into the Gunsan plant. Myoung Shin promised to produce sedans and release an independent model in 2022.

From 2023, the company plans to produce small electric buses with less than 15 seats and trucks weighing less than 1.5 tons. In May last year, GM closed the plant in Gunsan, which used to produce two GM models, the Orlando SUV and the Cruze compact. Myoung Shin, a subsidiary of MS Autotech which produces car parts for South Korea's Hyundai auto group, took over the plant for 250 billion won.